CHENNAI: Leaders of traders’ associations may be grumbling, but a section of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have given a thumbs up to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), since they feel it encourages them to expand operations across the country.
They point out that the GST regime has just freed them from paying entry tax to manufacturers. Also, sourcing goods from various states would hopefully be a breeze because the check post hassle is over. Besides, they can compete in various markets across the country without hindrance.
“I’m glad and excited about the implementation of the GST regime. Earlier, it was hard to do business in Puducherry due to taxes. Now, those issues have been sorted out. I can expand my business footprint in any part of the country. There was initial nervousness about GST because many were not aware of the advantages. As the tax on branded goods is high, smaller and medium businesses can make a huge profit and compete with other major brands. Some of my customers enquire about the changes in the bill, while some just want to know the final amount. However, I explain the computation,” said S Ravi, owner of three wholesale shops in Koyambedu.
The Retailers Association of India (RIA) has set up a national help desk, http://rai.net.in/gst to educate merchants, traders and other businessmen on GST compliance.
“Apart from the help desk, RAI has been conducting workshops and answering queries,” says Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI.
For SMEs there are obvious advantages. Earlier, those with over `5 lakh turnover had to pay Value Added Tax. Under GST, they get into the tax bracket only if their turnover is `20 lakh or above.
“Complete clarification was given to us before GST was in place. We now have a few slabs: 5% tax on sweets, 12% on savories and 10% on chat and dining items,” says G Valliappan, manager of an eatery at Ambattur Industrial Estate.
“Many resist the change mostly because they are not looking at the positive aspects of the new law. When there is transparency in every transaction, doing business becomes easy. GST is cyclic as the money put in comes back as returns,” says P Sundar, a trader.
“Owners, traders or merchants who do business honestly are happy with GST,” says P Jagadeesan, another store owner at Iyyapanthangal.